Door



Jan.- 24, 1967 H. B. NEAL ETAL DOOR 5 Sheets-:Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 17, 1964 FIG. I

FIG. 2

INVENTORS HARRY B. NEAL RAYMOND P BROWN BY g m Jan. 24, 1967 H. B. NEAL ETAL DOOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 17, 1964 FIG. 3

//// "\ivK \i" INVENTORS HARRY B. NEAL RAYMOND P BROWN FIG. 6

BY am ,i w, m ATTORNEY) HQB. NEAL E AL DOOR 3 Sheeis-5heet 5 Filed Dec 17, 1964 'll IO FIG. 7"

" FIGQ vHv INV ENTORS HARRY B. NEAL RAYMOND F. BROWN FIG. IO

fmb ATTOR ays.

United States Patent Q 3,299,596 DOOR Harry B. Neal and Raymond P. Brown, Atlanta, Ga., as-

signors to Anaconda Aluminum Company, Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Montana Filed Dec. 17, 1964, Ser. No. 418,961 11 Claims. (Cl. 52-476) This invention relates to doors, and more particularly to doors of the type in which a panel member, such as a pane of glass, is supported in a rectangular metallic frame.

Metallic entrances in which a rectangular metallic frame structure supports and retains a correspondingly rectangular panel member, such as a transparent glass pane, have found widespread acceptance in modern building construction, both for exterior and interior door structures. Problems involved in providing such a door structure which is both satisfactory in use and relatively inexpensive to manufacture include how to construct, assern-ble and retain together the stiles and rails of the door, and how to mount the glass pane, for example, so that it is retained securely and supported adequately by the stiles and rails. For exterior doors in particular, there is the additional problem of providing security against unauthorized removal of the glass pane to gain entrance to the premises. The present invention is directed toward the solution of problems such as these.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved door structure in which a panel member, such as a transparent glass pane, is retained and supported by a rectangular metallic frame structure.

It is another object of the present invention to provide such a door structure in which the metallic frame structure includes stiles and rails which are held in properly assembled relation by new and improved connecting structure.

It is another object of the present invention to provide such a door structure which includes new and improved means for retaining the door panel member with respect to the door stiles and rails.

It is another object of the present invention to provide 'such a door structure including new and improved means for preventing unauthorized removal of the door panel member from the exterior side of the door.

It is anther object of the present invention to provide such a door structure which includes new and improved astragal structure.

The foregoing and other objects are attained in a door in which a glass panel is supported around its peripheral edges by a rectangular frame structure including parallel strike and hinge stiles, and parallel top and bottom rails disposed between, and extending perpendicular to, the respective top and bottom end portions of the stiles. Each of the stiles and rails includes opposed parallel side faces joined by integrally formed inner and outer webs defining a tubular structural element of generally rectangular cross-section. The inner web of each of these structural elements has glass stop supporting means integrally formed on its face, such supporting means including a pair of parallel grooves extending the length of the web, one adjacent each side edge thereof, with the outer side wall of each groove being undercut, and a pair of substantially T-shaped projections extending the length of the inner web between the grooves. These T-shaped projections define, with the face of the web, a first pair of channels directed outwardly, one toward each groove, and a second pair of channels directed inwardly toward one another.

3,299,595 Patented Jan. 24, 1967 "ice The glass setting stops are elongated channel-shaped members, preferably of extruded aluminum, and are supported on the face of each aforementioned inner web in parallel spaced relation to each other to define a panel receiving groove extending around the inner periphery of the rectangular frame. Each glass stop includes a resilient glazing strip in position to engage the peripheral side edge of the glass panel disposed between the glass stops. Each of thevglass stops further includes an arm having a toe portion adapted to fit loosely within one of the outwardly directed channels, and a heel adapted to fit within the associated groove in the face of said inner web. When assembled, the toe and heel are retained firmly in place by the reaction force of a glass panel clamped between a pair of glass setting stops.

The stiles and rails are retained in their perpendicular relation, with the rails disposed between the stiles and with the rail ends bearing against the inner webs of the stiles, by a pair of elongated tie bolts, there being a tie bolt located within the tubular portion of each rail and extending through the associated inner webs of the stiles. A bearing plate is provided at each end portion of a tie bolt, and bears against the internal surface of the associated inner web to permit the stiles to be drawn tightly against the ends of the rails without distorting or other wise damaging the stiles.

In order for the ends of the rails to bear flush against the associated web faces of the stiles, a slot is punched in each stile inner web to accommodate the associated inner and outer webs of a rail whereby the T-shaped projections on the inner web of the stile will not engage and interfere with the rail webs. By punching the slot through both the T-shaped projections and the web, complete removal of interference is assured.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following specification taken with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view, broken away in part, of a dooraccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing one of the joints between a stile and rail of the door of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the top rail taken on line 44' of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the bottom rail taken on line 55 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG, 1;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the strike stile of the door shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a security clip used to prevent removal of the glass stops from the exterior of the door; and

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 are sectional views showing alternate constructions of the glass setting stops.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, a door, referred to generally by the numeral 1, includes a glass panel 2 supported around its peripheral edge by a rectangular frame structure including a strike stile 3, a hinge stile 4, a top rail 5, and a bottom rail 6. As seen in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, each of the stiles and rails includes a tubular structural element having a generally rectangular cross-section and including parallel side faces 7, an inner web 8, and an outer Web 9.

Inner web 8 is formed with a pair of parallel grooves 10 extending the length thereof, one adjacent each longitudinal side edge, with the outer wall 11 of each groove being undercut to overhang a portion of the groove 10.

Inner web 8 also includes a pair of integrally formed substantially parallel T-shaped projections 12 extending the length thereof between grooves 10. The top portions 13 of the T-shaped projections 12 extend in substantially parallel overlying relation to the face of web 8 to define a first pair of channels 14 directed outwardly one toward each of the grooves 1t and a second pair of channels 15 directed inwardly toward one another.

Referring now to FIGS. 13, it is seen that the top and bottom rails 5, 6 are positioned between the stiles 3, 4 with the ends of the rails bearing against the faces of the inner webs 8 of the stiles. The stiles and rails are retained in their perpendicular relation by a pair of elongated tie bolts 17, one positioned within the tubular portion of each rail. Each bolt 17 has threaded ends 18, and each end 18 extends through an opening 19 to project into the tubular portion of the associated stile. Since each of the corners of the frame is joined in the same manner, only one will be described in detail.

A hearing plate 20 having an opening 21 therein is positioned on the threaded end 18 of the tie bolt 17, and a nut 22 is threaded onto end 18 to firmly clamp the stile against the associated rail end. If desired, a lock washer 23 may be provided between the bearing surface of nut 22 and bearing plate 20. The bearing plate 20 is of sutficient length to overlie the ends of webs 8, 9 of the rails to evenly distribute the compressive load over the end of the rail.

In order for the end of the rail to bear flush against the face of the inner web 8 of the stile, a first slot 24 is formed transversely of stile web 8, and slot 24 extends through the T-shaped projections 12 to eliminate any interference by these projections with the associated end of rail web 9. A second slot 25, similar to slot 24, is formed in stile web 8 in position to prevent T-shaped projections 12 from interfering with associated end of rail web 8-. As shown in FIG. 2, slot 25 is somewhat larger than slot 24 to pro vide clearance for the T-shaped projections 12 carried on rail web 8. By forming the slots 24, 25 completely through the projections 12 and stile webs 8, all possibility of interference between the projections and rail ends is eliminated.

To retain the glass panel 2 within the opening in the rectangular frame, a pair of elongated glass stops 28 are supported on the face of each inner web 8 and extend therealong within the rectangular opening of the frame in parallel spaced relation for receiving and clamping the peripheral side edges of a glass panel 2. Each of the glass setting stops 28 has a substantially channel-shaped crosssection and includes a central web portion 29, and a pair of arms 30, 31 projecting laterally therefrom, one adjacent each side edge of the web. Arm 31 is provided with a glazing strip retaining groove 32 extending the length thereof for supporting a resilient glazing strip 33. Arm 31 has a free edge, or toe portion 34 adapted to be loosely received within channel 14, and an undercut heel portion 35 adapted to be received within groove and bear against the undercut side wall 11 thereof.

To mount the glass panel 2 within the rectangular frame, a glass stop 28 is mounted on one side of each of the inner webs 8, with the toe 34 positioned within channel 14 and the undercut heel 35 positioned within groove 10. The glass panel 2 is positioned within the rectangular opening of the frame structure with its periperal side edges bearing against the resilient glazing strip 33 carried by glass stop 28 previously installed. Panel 2 is centered within the rectangular opening with its peripheral edges spaced from the T-shaped projections by a plurality of resilient mounting blocks 36 as shown in FIG. 5. To retain the panel in the opening, a second glass setting stop is then installed in place on each of the inner webs 8 by placing the resilient glazing strip 33 carried by arm 30 in place against the peripheral edge portion of the panel opposite the glazing strip carried by the previously installed glass stop, and directing the toe 34 of arm 31 into channel 14. Force is then applied in the direction of arrow 36 in FIG. 7 to compress the resilient glazing strips 33 until undercut heel 35 snaps into groove 10.

As is apparent from FIG. 7, when the glass panel 2 is installed within the frame, the reaction force of the panel, acting through the compressed resilient glazing strips 33, tends to rotate each glass stop 28 about its heel 35, thereby maintaining the undercut heel in interlocking engagement with the undercut side wall 11 of groove 10, and simultaneously maintaining the toe 34 to bear firmly against the top portion 13 of projection 12 within channel 14. However, in the absence of the reaction force from the panel 2 acting on the stop 28-, the toe 34 can move freely within channel 14 to permit the heel to be removed from the groove 10. Thus, it is apparent that the stop supporting means carried by the inner webs 8 of the stiles and rails is ineffective to maintain the stops in the absence of a panel disposed therebetween.

Since the glass panel 2 can be removed from the frame simply by compressing the resilient glazing strips 33 and lifting one of the glass setting stops sufliciently to permit the heel to be lifted from groove 10, it becomes desirable to provide some means for preventing such removal from the outside of an entrance door. This is accomplished by a security clip 38 formed from a high-strength material such as spring steel. Security clip 38 has reversely bent portion 39 adapted to be snapped into engagement with channel 15, and an elongated arm portion 40 which terminates in a reversely bent hook portion 41 adapted to snap over and engage an inclined projection 42 formed on the internal face of arm 31. Hook 41 and projection 42 are inclined so that the hook will ride over the upper edge of the projection when arm 31 is inserted within channel 14, and then the hook will snap into engagement with projection 42 to prevent withdrawal of arm 31, making it necessary to remove the security clip 38 before the stop 28 can be removed. It is apparent, also, that the clip 38 will serve as an assembly aid by retaining the stops installed on one side of the door until the panel can be installed and clamped by the stops on the other side.

The side faces 7 of the strike stile of the door each extend outwardly past outer web 9 to form a pair of parallel opposed flanges 45, having undercut opposed inner faces 46 for receiving and supporting an astragal 47. The astragal 47 has an integrally formed channel 48 for retaining a resilient weather strip 49 along the central portion of the outer face of the astragal. The astragal further includes a pair of reversely bent retaining fingers St on the side opposite channel 48 in position to snap into engagement with and be retained by the undercut faces 46 of flanges 45 to resiliently retain the astragal on the strike stile of the door.

As most clearly seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, each outer web 9 of the top and bottom rails 5 and 6, respectively, is preferably spaced inwardly from the outer edges of the side faces 7 to form a pair of parallel flanges 51 projecting outwardly from the rectangular tubular portion of the rails. This construction of the rails permits minor adjustment of the overall height of the door by simply removing a portion of the flanges 51, without materially affecting the strength of the rails.

While this invention has been particularly described and illustrated in relation to a glass panel door, it is believed apparent that certain features of the invention are equally applicable in other structures wherein it is desired to support a building panel within a metallic framing unit as, for example, in curtain wall construction, store fronts, or the like. Accordingly, while we have described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of our invention, we wish it understood that we do not intend to be restricted solely thereto, but that we do intend to cover all embodiments thereof which would be apparent to one skilled in the art and which come within the spirit and scope of our invention.

We claim:

1. A frame unit for use in a door structure having a glass panel supported by a rectangular frame structure surrounding the peripheral edges of the panel, said frame unit comprising a hollow structural member of generally rectangular cross-section and including a pair of opposed side faces joined by inner and outer webs, panel stop mounting means on the inner web of said hollow structural member, each mounting means including a pair of grooves each having an undercut outer side wall formed in the face of said inner web and extending the length thereof one adjacent each side edge thereof and a pair of projections located between said grooves and extending the length of said inner web in parallel spaced relation, said projections defining together with said inner web a pair of channels directed one toward each of said grooves, a pair of elongated generally channel-shaped panel stops positioned on the inner web of said hollow structural member, each panel stop having a central web portion, a first arm extending therefrom and carrying a resilient glazing strip, and a second arm extending therefrom and engaging an undercut side wall of one of said grooves and one of said projections of said mounting means to position said glass stop on said inner web, each pair of glass stops, when so positioned, defining a panel receiving groove at the inner periphery of said frame unit with the glazing strips of said pair of glass stops engaging the associated" peripheral panel edge portion to clamp said panel therebetween and support said panel with respect to said frame unit, the reaction force of said panel acting through said glazing strips cooperating with said glass stop mounting means to releasably retain said glass stops in position on said inner web, each glazing strip being sulficientlyresilient to permit the glass stop on which it is carried to be forced inwardly transversely of said inner web to disengage the glass stop second arm from said mounting means to permit removal of the stop.

2. The frame unit as defined in claim 1 wherein the second arm extending from the central web portion of each panel stop'has a heel portion adjacent said central web portion and a toe portion remote therefrom, said heel portion being located in one of the grooves in the inner web of the hollow structural member with which the panel stopis associated, and the toe portion of said sec ond arm being movably received within one of said channels and engaging one of said projections to prevent rotation of said panel stop about its heel portion, said toe portion being movable inwardly of said inner web during removal of the panel stop from the hollow structural member with which it is associated.

3. The framing unit as defined in claim 1 wherein said pair of channels on the face of said web are defined by a pair of integrally formed parallel substantially T- shaped projections, said projections and said web defining a second pair of opposed inwardly directed channels, and a security clip having a portion disposed within and releasibly retained by said second set of channels and including a hook portion engaging one of said glass stops to positively prevent the removal thereof when the other 'of said stops is installed and a panel is disposed therebetween,

4. A door comprising, in combination, a rectangular glass door panel, a rectangular frame supporting said panel around the peripheral edges thereof, said frame including parallel strike and hinge stiles and parallel top and bottom rails, each of said stiles and rails including opposed parallel side faces joined by integrally formed inner and outer webs to define a tubular structural member of generally rectangular cross-section, the top and bottom rails extending between said stiles in perpendicular relation thereto adjacent the upper and lower ends thereof respectively with the ends of said rails bearing against the inner webs of said stiles, means securing said stiles and said rails in said perpendicular relation, panel stop mounting means integrally formed on the inner web of each of said tubular structural members, each mounting means including a groove having an undercut outer side wall formed in the face of said inner web and extending the length thereof adjacent each side edge thereof and a pair of parallel substantially T -shaped projections located between said grooves and extending the length of said inner web, a pair of elongated generally channelshaped metallic panel stops positioned on the inner web of each tubular structural member, each panel stop having a central web portion, a first arm extending therefrom and carrying a resilient glazing strip, and a second arm extending therefrom and engaging one of said undercut outer side walls and one of said T-shaped projections of said mounting means to position said glass stop on said inner web, each pair of glass stops, when so positioned, defining a panel receiving groove at the inner periphery of said frame with the glazing strips of each pair of glass stops engaging the associated peripheral panel edge portion to clamp said panel therebetween and support said pane-l within said rectangular frame, the reaction force of said panel acting through said glazing strips cooperating with said glass stop mounting means to releasably retain said glass stops in position on said door, each glazing strip being sufficiently resilient to permit the glass stop on which it is carried to be forced inwardly transversely of the inner web of the tubular structural member with which it is associated to disengage the glass stop second arm from the mounting means on said inner web to permit removal of the stop.

5. A door as defined in claim 4 wherein said inner webs of said stiles are provided with a pair of apertures spaced from each end thereof with each of the apertures being positioned to transversely span said T-shaped projections to provide a gap therein in the area where the inner webs of said stiles are contacted by the inner and outer webs of said rails to thereby permit the ends of said rails to bear against said stiles without interference from said projections.

6. The door as defined in claim 5 wherein said means securing said stiles and rails in said perpendicular relation includes an elongated tie bolt disposed within the tubular portion of said rails and extending through an opening in the inner webs of said stiles, and means threadably engaging the ends of said tie bolt within the tubular portion of said stiles firmly clamping the inner webs of said stiles against the ends of said rails.

7. The door as defined in claim 6 including a bearing plate mounted on each end of said tie bolts and disposed within said rails with said tie bolt extending through an opening in said plate, said bearing plate extending along the inner surface of said inner web a distance sufficient to extend past the webs of said rails to distribute the clamping load in said tie bolt between the side faces and the webs of said rail.

8. The door as defined in claim 6 wherein the parallel side faces of said strike stile project outwardly past said outer web to define an outwardly directed channel, and an extruded metal astragal is detachably mounted on the projecting portion of said side faces to close the open side of said channel.

9. The door as defined in claim 8 wherein the inner surfaces of the projecting portion of said side faces are undercut, and said astragal includes a pair of integrally formed arms extending the length thereof in position to be snapped into engagement with said undercut inner surfaces to resiliently retain said astragal on said strike stile.

10. The door as defined in claim 4 further including a plurality of security clips mounted on and releasibly retained by said T-shaped projections, each of said clips including a portion extending outwardly from said projections toward said groove in said inner web and terminating in a reversely bent hook portion engaging a flange integrally formed on the glass settingstops on one side of said door to prevent removal thereof until the glass setting stops on the other side of said door and 1 and a toe portion remote therefrom, said heel portion engaging the undercut outer side Wall of the groove in the inner web of the tubular structural member with which the glass stop is associated, and the toe portion projecting beneath the overhanging portion of one of said T-shaped projections and engaging said overhanging portion to prevent rotation of said glass stop about its heel portion,

said toe portion being movable inwardly beneath said overhanging portion during removal of the glass stop from the inner web of the tubular structural member with which it is associated.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Kiekert 189'46 Backman 189-78 XR Katz 18946 Karnmerer 52656 X May 52 501 X Pulling et al 52498 X Brown 52498 X Felix et a1. 52476 X HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner. KENNETH DOWNEY, Examiner. 

1. A FRAME UNIT FOR USE IN A DOOR STRUCTURE HAVING A GLASS PANEL SUPPORTED BY A RECTANGULAR FRAME STRUCTURE SURROUNDING THE PERIPHERAL EDGES OF THE PANEL, SAID FRAME UNIT COMPRISING A HOLLOW STRUCTURAL MEMBER OF GENERALLY RECTANGULAR CROSS-SECTION AND INCLUDING A PAIR OF OPPOSED SIDE FACES JOINED BY INNER AND OUTER WEBS, PANEL STOP MOUNTING MEANS ON THE INNER WEB OF SAID HOLLOW STRUCTURAL MEMBER, EACH MOUNTING MEANS INCLUDING A PAIR OF GROOVES EACH HAVING AN UNDERCUT OUTER SIDE WALL FORMED IN THE FACE OF SAID INNER WEB AND EXTENDING THE LENGTH THEREOF ONE ADJACENT EACH SIDE EDGE THEREOF AND A PAIR OF PROJECTIONS LOCATED BETWEEN SAID GROOVES AND EXTENDING THE LENGTH OF SAID INNER WEB IN PARALLEL SPACED RELATION, SAID PROJECTIONS DEFINING TOGETHER WITH SAID INNER WEB A PAIR OF CHANNELS DIRECTED ONE TOWARD EACH OF SAID GROOVES, A PAIR OF ELONGATED GENERALLY CHANNEL-SHAPED PANEL STOPS POSITIONED ON THE INNER WEB OF SAID HOLLOW STRUCTURAL MEMBER, EACH PANEL STOP HAVING A CENTRAL WEB PORTION, A FIRST ARM EXTENDING THEREFROM AND CARRYING A RESILIENT GLAZING STRIP, AND A SECOND ARM EXTENDING THEREFROM AND ENGAGING AN UNDERCUT SIDE WALL OF ONE OF SAID GROOVES AND ONE OF SAID PROJECTIONS OF SAID MOUNTING MEANS TO POSITION SAID GLASS STOP ON SAID INNER WEB, EACH PAIR OF GLASS STOPS, WHEN SO POSITIONED, DEFINING A PANEL RECEIVING GROOVE AT THE INNER PERIPHERY OF SAID FRAME UNIT WITH THE GLAZING STRIPS OF SAID PAIR OF GLASS STOPS ENGAGING THE ASSOCIATED PERIPHERAL PANEL EDGE PORTION TO CLAMP SAID PANEL THEREBETWEEN AND SUPPORT SAID PANEL WITH RESPECT TO SAID FRAME UNIT, THE REACTION FORCE OF SAID PANEL ACTING THROUGH SAID GLAZING STRIPS COOPERATING WITH SAID GLASS STOP MOUNTING MEANS TO RELEASABLY RETAIN SAID GLASS STOPS IN POSITION ON SAID INNER WEB, EACH GLAZING STRIP BEING SUFFICIENTLY RESILIENT TO PERMIT THE GLASS STOP ON WHICH IT IS CARRIED TO BE FORCED INWARDLY TRANSVERSELY OF SAID INNER WEB TO DISENGAGE THE GLASS STOP SECOND ARM FROM SAID MOUNTING MEANS TO PERMIT REMOVAL OF THE STOP. 